Home Information Pack (HIP) Contents

Why do I need a Home Information Pack?

• The current home buying and selling process is wasteful, fraught with delay and gives consumers a raw deal. The big problem is that buyers do not have access to key information when making their initial decisions.
• Soon buyers will be able to view a property, read the survey report and check important legal documents before making an offer. Buyers will then be able to negotiate with all the important facts that previously only became available later in the process.
• Sellers will be more confident that an offer will lead to completion without the worry of what the survey will bring up.
• Solicitors will have less work to do as the key information is available from the start and this should also reduce the time needed to completion.
• Home Information Packs will help make the process more affordable for first time buyers since they will receive all this information without having to pay for it.

The Home Information Pack will make the buying and selling process clearer by ensuring the key information is available from the beginning. From 1st August 2007 the law will require that anyone selling their home will need to provide a Home Information Pack to potential buyers.

What is to be included in a Home Information Pack?

A Freehold HIP will contain the following documents:

An Index

Sale Statement

Home Contents form

• An Index

  detailing the exact documents included in the HIP.

• A sale statement

  which is a brief report summarizing the property to be marketed. It is normally completed by the vendor and includes the following information:

  • Property address
  • If the property is freehold, leasehold or commonhold
  • Whether the property is registered
  • The person selling the property
  • Status of the property, for instance, is it vacant?
• Home Contents form

  This is a form similar to the fixtures and fittings and contents form. It will give details of what is included in the sale and what is not. It includes items such as, appliances, built in furniture, outbuildings.

Home Use form

Copies of the Land Registry Title

Local Council
Searches

• Home Use form

  This is a form similar to the sellers property information form currently used. This includes questions about the property itself such as which boundaries are owned and any shared rights of access.

• Official copies of the Land Registry Title

  This contains a copy of the official register of the title of the property.

• Local Council Searches

  These show information about the property which is held by the local authority, for example East Hampshire District Council.

Drainage and Water Search

Home Condition Report

Energy Performance Certificate

• Drainage and Water Search

  This shows details of drainage and water supply arrangements. Other searches could be included in the pack, which are Environmental and coal mining searches.

• Home Condition Report

  Possibly the most important document in the HIP. This has a separate section with more information.

• Energy Performance Certificate

  The report also includes recommendations on how money can be saved by improving the energy efficiency of the property. This has a separate section with more information.

• Copies

  Copies of any Building Regulations Completion certificates and guarantees or warranties for the property.